The UK should now announce unilateral investigations into past terrorism

The scandal over the way the legacy of terrorism is being investigated grinds on and on.

The Council of Europe, the body that oversees the European Convention on Human Rights, has added to the pressure on the UK to investigate the past in the way Irish republicans and the Republic of Ireland government want it to be investigated.

It has launched an investigation into the murder of Pat Finucane (see page 20). Recently the UK government turned down a public inquiry into that one murder — one out of more than 1,000 unsolved Troubles murders.

London was right to do so but was too apologetic when it did and left the door open to a future such investigation.

Millions of pounds have been spent on that case. Much of the media added to the pressure on the UK to grant a probe, barely mentioning that campaigners for a Finucane inquiry had turned down one under the 2005 inquiries act. It wasn’t good enough.

As a result, one of the world’s top human right lawyers examined the matter and found no over-arching conspiracy. Now campaigners will accept a probe under the 2005 act and want the case opened again.

The UK must instead move on to inquiries into the many unsolved past killings, most by republican terrorists.

Radical responses to Europe/Dublin’s legacy approach should begin with unilateral UK inquiries into terrorism.

The Stormont House legacy plan was not going to rectify the imbalance properly and now the UK has a duty to do so.

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Alistair Bushe

Editor